{"id":319,"date":"2010-08-30T05:12:13","date_gmt":"2010-08-30T10:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=319"},"modified":"2010-08-30T05:12:13","modified_gmt":"2010-08-30T10:12:13","slug":"album-review-strange-games-funky-things-volume-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/08\/30\/album-review-strange-games-funky-things-volume-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Strange Games & Funky Things, Volume 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes it\u2019s a bit of an adventure to wander into a compilation disc without having a clear idea of its thematic angle. I was familiar with earlier comps on the UK-based BBE label \u2013 including ones curated by Keb Darge<\/strong> \u2013 so I started out from a position of assuming the contents of this disc would at least be worth a spin, possibly much more.<\/p>\n

Since it\u2019s titled Strange Games & Funky Things, Volume 5<\/em>, I was intrigued. The subtitle read \u201cSmoking 70\u2019s Soul and Rare Grooves,\u201d so I was even more interested. Into the player it went.<\/p>\n

The first cut was indeed an early 70s pop-soul number by one Ned Doheny<\/strong>, an American singer-songwriter of the \u201cbig in Japan\u201d category. No, really. Good song, with more than a few hints of Alan Parsons Project<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cBreakdown\u201d from I Robot<\/em> (even though APP\u2019s song came out four years after this track). So far, so good, I thought: this is a pretty well obscure song that does indeed have a groove, and it could have been a hit.<\/p>\n

But three minutes in, something very odd happened. I started hearing a looped bass and drum figure, and some turntable scratching. \u201cSonic dissonance\u201d doesn\u2019t begin to describe what I felt. Grandmaster Flash<\/strong> and his contemporaries weren\u2019t working in 1972; what was going on here?<\/p>\n

By the time I formulated those thoughts, the disc had slipped into a romantic soul-funk number called \u201cSweet Stuff\u201d by Sugarhill Records founder Sylvia<\/strong>. And then it hit me. I picked up the CD sleeve to read the name of the compiler\/curators of this set. Yup, though I didn\u2019t recognize the names, they were self-explanatory: DJ Spinna<\/strong> & BBE Soundsystem<\/strong>. Yes, this set is a compilation where the tracks are linked in the manner of a live DJ. Fascinating.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t dance. Maybe I\u2019m just too white and uptight, with neuroses outta sight. So the idea of a set that \u2013 in the words of this CD\u2019s press kit \u2013 contains \u201cdance floor fillers\u201d doesn\u2019t really move me (so to speak). My enjoyment of music has more to do with its sound than its feel. But this stuff sounds and feels good.<\/p>\n

The tracks are generally of that early 70s just-before-disco-hit vintage, but there\u2019s something especially inventive and exploratory about them. On a number like Richard Evans<\/strong>\u2019 \u201cCapricorn Rising,\u201d you\u2019ll hear an arrangement that is grasping for a new genre. There are hints of South American samba, scat vocal jazz, and more. And all these elements are laid atop a beat that moves, with sweeping string arrangements.<\/p>\n

Deep cuts, yes. Other than two acts —War <\/strong>and Merry Clayton<\/strong> \u2013 all of the artists on this 21-track compilation were unknown to me. A set like Strange Games<\/em> yet again beats the listener over the head (in a good way) with the inescapable fact that lots of worthwhile music has slipped by without notice. The curators of this and other sets are in their own way funk-soul Alan Lomax<\/strong>es.<\/p>\n

The disc is sequenced so that changes in tempo and feel are minimized; if you don\u2019t listen closely, the cuts will tumble into one another without calling your attention to the changes. The seamless editing works quite well. In a live setting, DJs get one shot to make the transition: sometimes it works, sometimes less so. Here on disc, DJ Spinna has taken the time and care to get it oh-so-right.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a world music bent to this collection. Japanese and South American artists are included. But even these are smoothly included into the mix. You\u2019ll hear congas, vibes, horn sections\u2026you name it, and you\u2019ll like it.<\/p>\n

With its jazzy flute and chunky-funky guitars, The Soul Searchers<\/strong>\u2019 \u201cAshley\u2019s Roachclip\u201d sounds like the theme to a forgotten blaxploitation film. And DJ Spinna\u2019s editing the song straight into Willie Hale<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cGroove On\u201d is nearly seamless. And in one of the rare cases where the transition does show a seam, Spinna makes the best of it, inserting a treated vocal announcing his presence in the mix.<\/p>\n

The disc will be packaged with \u201cbonus\u201d disc containing most of the tracks again, but in an unmixed format. I ask, why bother? If it\u2019s always done this well, why not jus enjoy the mixing talents as applied to a good collection of songs? I\u2019m hooked.<\/p>\n

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Sometimes it\u2019s a bit of an adventure to wander into a compilation disc without having a clear idea of its thematic angle. I was familiar with earlier comps on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}